So far, I’ve only heard Lyons’ side of the story and a few select quotes that the paper saw fit to print. I’ve e-mailed Darin LaHood to get his official response. Once I get that, I’ll form an opinion. There are always two sides to every story, especially during campaign season.
I’d ask Lyons for his side of the story in the last post, but he never answers my e-mails.
From a press release:
Peoria Heights Police Unanimously Endorse Darin LaHood:
AWOL Suspect In Heights Fraud Investigation Prompts Police Union to Pronounce ‘Lost Confidence’ in State’s Attorney’s OfficePeoria Heights, IL – While Peoria County State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons and investigators from his office have scrambled to determine how once-detained suspect Kranthi Akula slipped out of the Country before facing prosecution for fraudulent business practices, the Peoria Heights Police Department officers who investigated, arrested and jailed the suspect are frustrated that Lyons mishandled the case and allowed Akula to avoid prosecution and flee to India.
“We have lost confidence in Kevin Lyons’ abilities as State’s Attorney,” said Detective Chris Ahart of the Peoria Heights Police Department. “Our officers in conjunction with the Correctional Officers at the County jail arrested, transported, and booked the suspect into the County jail. It’s incomprehensible to us that Lyons failed at the Court hearing to demand forfeiture of Akula’s passport to the Sheriff’s Department as a condition of his bond. This mistake allowed the suspect to flee the Country. Lyons’ mishandling of the case is an embarrassment to law enforcement in Peoria.”
Police officers in Peoria Heights are clearly frustrated with the Akula case, but came together late last month to collectively call for change in the State’s Attorney’s office. On July 21, 2008, the Peoria Heights Police Benevolent Union voted 11-0 to endorse challenger candidate Darin LaHood for the top prosecutor’s office.
“The situation in Peoria Heights continues a pattern of neglect in the State’s Attorneys office that worsens our crime problems and demoralizes law enforcement,” said LaHood. “In case after case, the officers, deputies, investigators and detectives at the local departments have done their jobs. They have arrested and detained suspects, they have imprisoned convicts and they have worked very hard on the frontlines to make Peoria County safer. The problem, time and again, has been in the prosecutor’s office. In the Peoria Heights case, the State’s Attorney did not know what to do to keep an international suspect in Peoria. In other situations, he has been too liberal with plea bargains and ultimately soft on crime. No wonder we have the highest crime rate in the state over the past five years. I am committed to working in tandem with Peoria law enforcement, I will take a hard-line on criminals and together we will make Peoria a safer place for us all. It’s time for a change in the State’s Attorneys office.”
The endorsement of Darin LaHood for State’s Attorney from officers in Peoria Heights follows numerous others throughout the County. Those include both Peoria City and County police unions, as well as unions in Bartonville, Chillicothe and the County Correctional Officers. To date, LaHood has received all of the public endorsements from law enforcement agencies in Peoria County that have been issued.
Darin LaHood, 40, was born and raised in Peoria. He is a former Chief Terrorism and Federal Prosecutor who served four years with the U.S. Department of Justice in Las Vegas, Nevada. LaHood was also an Assistant State’s Attorney in both Tazewell and Cook counties. LaHood and his wife, Kristen, returned home to Peoria in 2005 to raise their three children: McKay, Luke, and Teddy. LaHood currently practices with the Peoria law firm of Miller, Hall, & Triggs. Darin and Kristen are active in numerous Peoria charitable and civic organizations and are members of St. Vincent de Paul Church. Visit www.DarinLaHood.com to learn more about Darin, volunteer opportunities, or to contribute to the campaign.